Project Shikon
by KaeterinaRomanov
Summary: Some people wanted to see one of my short stories into a full one and see the rest of the Batclan's reactions. So this is my full story of Project Shikon. Jason comes home after patrol only to find a kid with dog-ears and a tail on his bed. What was he supposed to do with her? This is rated M for Jason's swearing and some violence.
1. Chapter 1

The girl ran for all she was worth, which at this point was getting hard. Her short legs taking her as fast as they possibly could. Her throat hurt so bad from running so fast for so long, she could hardly breath anymore. Her already sore throat was burning to the point she wasn't sure if it would ever be able to heal properly. She couldn't even stop, she could hear the feral pack behind her. If they caught her she would not come out of it unscathed and be sent back to the place. She would not go back there, not ever again. She heard the howl of one of the pack closing in on her and she sped up which she didn't think that was even possible. She suddenly heard running water and her ears perked slightly and shifted her direction toward the direction of the water. If she could hide her scent she could get further away before they caught wind of her again. She kept running until she swiftly came to a skidding stop, almost falling off the edge of a tall cliff. She collapsed onto her knees and let out a silent sob. Her one chance at freedom was more than a fifty foot drop away. She knew she could fall long drops without dying but she wasn't sure if she could survive such long of a drop. Tears streamed down her face as blackness started creeping into her vision. It seemed that her stopping had made her body realized how completely exhausted she was. She let out a raggedy breath as she very wobblily got to her feet.

Her eyes went wide as she heard a step and a breath behind her. In a split second she made her decision and threw herself forward. At this point she would rather die than go back to that place. All she wanted was freedom! She let out a silent scream of agony as she felt one of the feral's claws catch her side before she escaped it's reach. She closed her eyes as she plummeted, not knowing if she was going to survive this or not. It really all depended on how deep the river was. She felt the breath get knocked out of her as she smashed into the water. Her eyes shot open wide in panic as she brought a mouthful of water. She quickly expelled the water and clawed her way frantically towards what she hoped was the surface. She was in full panic mode as she realized the darkness was closing in on her fast, she couldn't breathe but she had to so badly. The current was dragging her down the fast-moving water and away from the surface. Her entire vision was almost encompassed by the blackness as she fought as hard as she could toward the surface. She wasn't dead, not yet. At the moment she was away from those awful people so she was determined to stay alive. People had died to help her escape from that horrible place. Throwing her life away would be throwing those that helped her away as well. To her extreme joy she breached the surface of the water and brought in a huge lungful of air.

That didn't help her overall situation though. Her vision was still almost completely dark, she was having a hard time breathing, and her side was in complete agony. She had no idea how bad her side was from where the feral had clawed her, what she did know was that it was bleeding really badly so she was currently losing a good amount of blood. Her situation was not good, not good at all. She felt herself go under once again and forced her head above water. She needed something to hold on to before she passed out. A log, or even a rock she could climb on top of; something… ANYTHING! She could barely see though which made searching for something to save herself about a hundred times harder. Suddenly her back smashed into something hard. She made her hand shoot out and grab onto whatever she had ran into.

A small smile appeared on her face as she realized she had a decent grip on what she was assuming was a log of some sort as she was still moving down the river. She hoisted herself a bit more onto the log before letting herself succumb to the begging darkness.

The next time she came to she was on the edge of the river, her mind extremely groggy. The first thing she noticed was the horrible ache in her side. She pushed herself up and listened as closely as she could to see if anyone was around, her ears twitching in every which way. She heard a lot of noises a bit of ways away, but there was nobody close to her. Once she realized that she was alone she pulled up her dress and looked at the severity of the claw mark. It must have grazed her with two of its fingers as two deep gouges lined her side. She let out a quiet hiss as she realized her healing wasn't kicking in, she was simply too tired. She looked down at her ripped and bloodied dress and realized that there really was no saving it. She took her claws and ripped off the bottom of her dress, but kept it long enough so the edge landed in the middle of her thighs. A bit shorter than she would like, but she really needed the bind her side to stop the bleeding. It wasn't bleeding as bad as it originally was, but it was still slowly bleeding. She ripped up and tied the strips together to make a makeshift bandage and wrapped them around her side as best as she could.

She got to her feet, which she now realized were bare. She must have lost her shoes to the river. She let out a sigh and started slowly walking towards all the distance noise she was hearing. It took her hours, going achingly slowly through the forest. As the trees got thinner and thinner she realized that she was getting close to a large city. As she got to the edge of the city she paused as she saw the sheer amount of people. She had never seen so many people in her live, ever. At the facility there had only been twenty people at one time, the people changed sometimes but there was still the same amount of people. She did know however that she would stand out immediately and that was a bad thing. She needed to blend in and hide as best as she could. Having a long tail and dog ears were going to make her stand out right away. She needed to blend in as much as possible. She made her tail wrap around her stomach making it hide under her horrid dress. Then she pressed her ears down tight to her head, it didn't make them disappear, but it would make them less noticeable. She quickly made her way into the town and kept hidden in the dark alleys and occasionally roofs when somebody turned down the alley she was in. Once it got dark she could move around with a bit more freedom, she was going to have to find something to eat soon. She was starving, but everything smelled so bad that she couldn't make herself eat anything that she came across so far. She wasn't sure if anything that she ate wouldn't poison her. She had never had to find her own food before, the people at the facility very carefully kept their diets under check.

Hours passes and finally it was dark enough out that people wouldn't panic the moment they saw her all the blood stains on her dress. She let out a wince as her side throbbed with pain. The wound had long ago bleed through her makeshift bandages. She trudged tiredly through the alleys until she heard a series of loud bangs that made her jump in place. Her eyes went wide in fear at the familiar sound. That sound had killed someone that she cared very deeply for. She quickly made her way to the roof and against her better judgement went towards those horrible sounds. She peered carefully over the edge of the roof, making sure to press her ears as tightly to her head as she could. Her ears were very sensitive and the loud bangs hurt. She watched as a man with a red helmet fight a group of people with black masks over their faces. She watched carefully at the red helmet man was shooting at the people, but not in fatal spots. Mostly at their legs and arms. The black masked men were trying their best to kill the red helmet man, but he had great skill and miraculously avoided all of the shots. Well either that or the black masked men were very bad shots. She watched them as the red helmet man quickly took out the black masked men and left them tied up in front of the building with the broken windows.

The red helmet man was clearly a good guy, maybe he could help her? Once the idea popped into her head it consumed her entirely. She had no idea if this was a good idea, but she was going to run with it. She wouldn't be able to follow him around the city in the condition she was in so she quickly took in his scent and committed it to memory. She watched the man disappear before she silently apologized to her nose. She took a deep breath and suddenly hundreds of different scents assaulted her nose. Most of the day she had been breathing through her mouth once she realized how extremely bad this entire city smelled. It took her a few minutes to filter through the hundreds of scents before she was able to isolate the red helmet man's scent. She followed it as quickly as she could so she could give her nose a well deserved break. It took a few minutes making her way over a good amount of roofs before she found herself across from a tall building. The man's smell was all over one of the different rooms within the buildings. She steeled herself before she jumped across to the metal ladders outside the windows of the building. A gasp escaped her as her side screamed in pain. She felt the wound start bleeding once again. She went to the widow that connected the room that smelled like him. She tested the window and a small smile appeared on her face as she realized that it was not locked. She snuck into the room and looked around.

There was a small living area, which is where she was now. Connected to the area was a tiny kitchen. She saw two closed doors and moved to the first one. She opened the door and saw a bathroom. Her eyes lit up as she realized that she could finally relieve herself in a bathroom. She had been holding it all day. Once she finished with her business she moved onto the other closed door. Behind this door held a bedroom. That was what consisted of the man's house. She decided to wait in the bedroom area. She was going to stand for until the man got back to the house but exhaustion hit her. She climbed onto the bed and sat on the edge of it. She didn't want to get his blanket dirty, but she simply couldn't sit any longer. After a while her eyes drifted shut and she started dozing off. She didn't completely fall asleep, she just let herself rest a bit. Her eyes snapped open as she heard the window that she herself came in open up. He was back.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason let out a tired sigh as he hunkered down on the roof of the building next to his apartment. In a little corner where he was sure there were no cameras he took off his red helmet and stuffed it into his backpack that he kept hidden there. A small smirk came to his face as he thought about his neighbors, they probably thought he was just the weird dude who liked to come into his house though the window. He took his notable jacket off and stuffed it into the same backpack. He put on a hoodie that he kept stashed with his backpack and put it on, flipping the hood up. He still had his domino mask on that he kept on under his helmet, you know just in case. He might not be Batman's fan at the moment, but his training was still in his head. He slung the backpack onto his back, not bothering to zip it up entirely as he was a few seconds from home, and jumped across to the gap to the fire escape to his building. He made his way to his window and opened it up entering his home.

He made a beeline straight for his bedroom, ready to just collapse for a few hours before doing actually doing something productive. With a tired sigh he reached up and pushed the hoodie off of his head. The domino mask quickly followed as it got a bit itchy after wearing it for a while. As he looked up he noticed very quickly that there was something very wrong going on in his room. As there was a short, dirty little girl sitting on the edge of his bed.

"What in the hell?" he shouted out. He dropped his bag, his helmet rolling out of it.

He watched the little girl look at him, look down to the helmet, and then back up to him with large wide eyes. Shit! She knew, he couldn't just kick her out now… she had seen him take his mask off. What was he going to do?

As the girl shifted slightly Jason really took notice of her. She was wearing what was once a white dress. Now it was almost a light brown with how dirty it was, the bottom was completely ripped off. Jason's eyes went wide slightly as he realized her left side was red and the red was growing slightly. Just noticing the rips on the side of her dress where the blood was coming from.

Jason rushed forward and picked the girl up, barely noticing that she had no shoes on. He ignored her terrified look and brought her into his bathroom. He set her down on the floor and stared getting some warm water running. He squatted down and started pulling her dress up to look at where she was hurt.

The girl's eyes went wide and instantly started trying to hold her dress down. Jason looked up to the girl's face only to see two very blue eyes glaring back at him, plus two fuzzy dog ears twitching angrily.

For a brief moment his mind was stuck on the girl's blue eyes, they were so blue that they reminded him of Dickie's. Then his mind finally processed that she had dog ears, not human. He felt something brush up against his leg and he looked down quickly to see a bushy black tail whipping angrily on the floor. Just what had broken into his apartment? She had to be a meta-human of some kind, though he had never seen one quite like her before. She was baring her teeth angrily at him, trying to keep her dress down.

Jason let out a laugh despite the circumstances, "Relax kid, I'm not stripping you because I want to. I need to look at your injuries. If they are bleeding that much they can't be good. Trust me you don't want it to get infected."

She glared at him for a bit longer while holding what was left of her dress before a pout took place of her glare and she let go of her dress. Relinquishing the hold of her dress over to him. He pulled his medical kit from under the sink and got out the disinfectant and some bandages. He pushed the wrecked dress up and realized he needed both of his hands to fix her injuries. "Hey kid, I need you to hold you dress okay? You can understand me, right?" he had realized she had a foreign look about her, he would say Japanese.

She gave a nod, a pout still on her face as she grabbed the bottom of her dress and held it up to her chest.

Jason smirked slightly as he started unwrapping the previous wrappings. He realized that the wrappings were the bottom part of her dress. She must have done it herself. He quickly and efficiently cleaned and re-wrapped her wounds. The two gashes on her side were not good, they were pretty deep, not too deep to need stitches though. They were more long than deep. He kept the information in the back of his mind that there had been too much blood from that wound. He filed information away that she might have some accelerated healing.

"Alright kid we need to have a chat, but before that let's get you something different for you to wear." He grabbed her hand and dragged her back to his room. Now he really didn't have something that would fit her, not really. He wasn't like golden boy that kept clothes handy at his house for the rest of his siblings. He knew for a fact that Dick had three different sets of clothes for the demon brat at his house. He dropped the girl's hand in the middle of his room and made his way to his dresser and started digging around for a sweater that wouldn't fall off her tiny frame. Finally, he found a turtleneck that would be able to stay on her body. He turned to give her the and found her in the exact spot he had dropped her hand. Before he handed her the shirt he gave her one more glance over. He really wanted to get a good look at the girl, he hadn't gotten a good look at her before. The surprise of her ears and tail were a great example of that.

Just like before her bright blue eyes were the first thing that he noticed. Upon closer inspection he could see specks of gold scattered in them. She had long black hair that fell to her hips. Her hair was so dark that it almost had hints of dark blue highlights. Her ears were twitching so slightly, he almost didn't notice their movement. Her tail, which had been whipping angrily earlier was now simply hanging loosely behind her. He wasn't exactly sure how much actual control she had over the tail. Maybe it only reacted to her emotions? She looked to be about six, maybe even seven. Definitely young, way too young to have an injury as bad as she had. He knew that when he found out who did that to her they were going to be having a bad time, he did not forgive people that hurt kids. They were the worst of the worse. Beyond that though there was something else that drew his attention. His eyes traveled down her face to her throat. Jason's eyes went dark at what he saw. Sitting around her neck was a collar, a dog collar. Some sick freak had put a collar around this little kid like she was just some common mutt.

Jason let out a cold growl as he stalked forward, tossing the sweater to the ground. She looked up at him with cautious eyes. He knelt down in front of her and reached behind her to undue the latch of the collar. He practically ripped it off of her, but he made sure to not hurt her at all. He looked down at the collar and saw that there was a small name tag on it. Whoever did this was going to meet the ends of his guns. He read the tag; written in all caps was PROJECT SHIKON. He let out an angry sigh and stuffed the collar into his pocket and picked the sweater back up.

"Listen kid, you're not going to wear that stupid collar. Ever again, got me?" he looked down at her. She nodded slowly, eyes wide. It was then that Jason realized that she hadn't uttered a single word, hadn't made a single sound since he had found her on his bed. "Can you talk kid?"

A frown appeared on her face and shook her head slow. She averted her eyes and started staring at the floor. Jason frowned with her and then let out a sigh. Suddenly a loud growl permeated the air. Jason's frown disappeared as an amused smirk took its place.

Jason let out a small chuckle, "Are you hungry kid?" he asked amused.

A small blush flushed her face as she nodded her head. Jason shook his head and chucked the sweater at her, "Put that on and then come out. You can just throw that ripped piece of crap away."

Without waiting for an answer, knowing he wouldn't get one, he walked out and made his way to his kitchen. He wasn't sure what to make, he really didn't have all that much in his apartment. He made his way over to the fridge and looked in. Well, he had some pizza from the night before. He could heat some of that up, with how hungry she sounded she couldn't be too picky… right?


	3. Chapter 3

She looked down at the table filled with food back up to the man that had put it there. No, Jason, he introduced himself as Jason. She looked up at Jason to see him looking at her with a… frustrated expression. She was pretty sure it was frustration that she was seeing. He was frustrated about her not eating any of the food he had put on the table. She felt bad for not eating any of it, but she just couldn't. Most of the things he had made didn't smell like food, just grease and burnt things. The one that smelled even a little edible was extremely harsh on her throat. She had only gotten a single bite down before her throat screamed at her that eating more of that would be a bad idea. With a pout she had put whatever it was back down and hadn't touched it again. The rest of the stuff she had simply scrunched her nose up before pouting once again. She was REALLY hungry and wanted to eat something! The gas she had been exposed to really destroyed her throat though, more specifically her ability to speak. All the screaming and running she had done the night prior may have completely ruined her voice forever. The kind doctor had told her not to speak and to take it easy with her breathing at all otherwise her throat may not be able to heal. She had really botched that up last night.

"Come on Shi I can hear your stomach growling from here. Eat something kid." Jason sighed tiredly at her.

Shi. That is was he had started calling her. Not that she minded all that much, even though it was just an abbreviation of Project Shikon. It wasn't like she could tell him what her actual name was. She couldn't speak at all, she didn't know sign language, and she didn't know how to write. Writing wasn't something the people at the lab thought was prudent to teach her. Sure; she knew large words and what they meant, but she had no idea how to write them. Plus, the only people that actually called her by her name before was Yasha and the kind doctor. Bother were dead now so her original name had bad memories to it. All of the people at the lab always just called her Project Shikon. She liked being called Shi though, it was new and still somewhat remnant of her time at the labs. While most of the time at the labs had been bad she did have some good memories there, mostly with Yasha.

She looked back down at the food and slunk down in her chair. She felt bad about not eating the food he had gotten for her, but she just couldn't. Most of it smelled simply horrid.

She watched him let out a sigh and pull out his phone and pressed a button. He listened for a few seconds before whoever he was calling picked up.

Jason was frustrated and confused. The kid was obviously starving, her stomach had been growling almost constantly for the past hour. She had taken only a single bite of a pop tart before setting it back on the table and not touching it again. It was time for desperate measures. He pulled out his phone and speed dialed Dick.

"Hello?" Dick asked, confusion was evident in his voice. Jason really didn't call other people, especially his family.

"Hey Dickhead. I have a rhetorical question for ya. What is something that both a dog and a kid would like to eat?" Jason asked looking at the tiny child sitting at his kitchen table.

Dick was silent for a moment, probably wondering where the strange question had come from before saying "Uh, why are you asking?

"Just answer the damn question Goldie." Jason growled out. He was briefly amused at Shi's quizzical head tilt at his growl.

"Um… meat? Have you tried something like chicken nuggets?" Dick suggested unsure of what he was helping his younger brother with.

"Chicken nuggets? Damnit, I don't have any chicken nuggets." Jason cursed. "Maybe she'll eat them though." He added as an afterthought to himself, not really to Dick.

"Jason why do you have a small child in your apartment?" Dick asked suspiciously. Jason really wasn't the most appropriate person for a kid to be around.

"None of your business Goldie. I gotta go." Jason said before hanging up.

He looked back as Shi, she had hardly moved through the entire conversation. "What do you say Shi, do chicken nuggets sound good?"

Shi looked up at him blankly and he cursed silently. Right, it wasn't as if she could answer. Without anything else to call her he had started calling her Shi, from the name on the tag. Though calling her Shikon didn't sound right and he sure as hell wasn't calling her anything to do with 'project.' She didn't seem to not like him calling her Shi so he kept at it. He figured if she didn't make weird faces and she answered to it he would keep calling her that.

He let out a sigh as he started moving around his house, apparently, he needed to go out and get some chicken nuggets. He would have to take her with him as there was no way he was leaving her by herself in his apartment. One, he didn't exactly trust her, he did just meet her a little over an hour ago. Secondly, she was only like six and he was pretty sure that you weren't supposed to leave six-year-olds by themselves.

He needed something to hide her canine attributes. He really didn't have anything against her dog ears and tail, in fact he found them pretty cute. Others however were racist bastards and he didn't want her attacked at all. He went into his bed room and started digging in his drawers. He smiled when he found an old bandana and walked back out and carefully tied it around her head, effectively hiding her ears. She let him, simply watching his every movement. He was sure if he had come at her aggressively even in the slightest she would not have been so compliant. She had a sad and defensive look in her eyes. He wondered what happened to her and where she had come from before she had found him. He realized that he would actually need to start looking into that soon. It wasn't like he could keep her forever; one he wasn't a person that should watch a kid, two him keeping her even for now was a little bit of kidnapping even if she had come to him herself.

Anyway, now he had to do something about her tail. He picked her up off the chair and carried her into the living room before setting her on the floor. "Stand there for second Shi, I've got to figure something out." His sweater would work well enough as a dress, but what could he do about her tail? Maybe he could fashion up a sling to hold her tail under the shirt. That would be hard with the gashes on her side though, it wasn't like he would be able to tie anything around her waist. "Ugh what do I have to hide your tail away for a bit Shi?" he asked but really mainly to himself.

He was about to walk back to his bedroom to see what he had when he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down to see Shi holding onto is shirt. Once she saw she had her attention she took a few steps back and he watched as her tail disappeared under the shirt. Until that moment hit had simply hung limply behind her, besides her tiny defensive tantrum in the bathroom, he hadn't realized that she could control it to that extent. He had really thought it only reacted to her emotions.

He smirked at her, "Well alright, that works. Can you keep it up there for a while though?" he asked her. She gave a single nod as an answer. He looked down at her and told her, "Before we head out I need to check your bandages."

She gave him a tiny little glare and grabbed the bottom of her shirt again and that almost made him laugh, "I have to make sure you aren't bleeding through." She pouted slightly before letting him have a look. The bandages were slightly starting to bleed though but he could tell that it wasn't doing too badly. He could keep these ones on for a bit longer before he had to change them. He would have to pick up more medical supplies when he went out, he was running low here. "Alright they look good for now, let's get going."

He opened the door for her and she walked out into the hallway. He closed the door behind him and made sure that it was locked. He looked at Shi and saw her looking around the hall curiously, which made him wonder if she had somehow come in through the same window he had. He made his way down the hall and down the stairs, Shi following him down the stairs like a little duckling. Or a lost puppy he thought with a snicker. As they were leaving the apartment building he almost jumped in surprise when he felt Shi reach up and grab onto his hand. He was about to take his hand out of hers, but then he really looked at her. She was looking right at the ground, there was a slight look on her face that told him that she was really hoping that she would let him keep holding her hand. There was also a look to her that said that she clearly thought he wouldn't let her. He gave a silent sigh and gave her hand a squeeze back before keeping a hold of her hand and started leading her down the street. He melted a bit when he saw the slight smile appeared on her face.

"There is a supermarket not too far from here, it shouldn't be too far of a walk." The girl simply nodded again.

The trip to the grocery store lasted much longer than he had planned. Shi got distracted at practically everything. It had been slightly amusing at first but after a while it got a bit annoying. There had been a couple times he had to actually pick her up to drag her away from something that caught the entirety of her attention. After he picked up a box of frozen chicken nuggets he made his way over and picked up a bunch of gauze, bandages, antiseptic, and other things to fill his first aid back up.

After what felt like forever they made it back to his apartment. As they made it to his door one hand was holding the bag of groceries; the other was holding onto Shi's hand. He handed the bag to Shi who held it close to her with both hands, "Hold onto this for me for a second Shi, I have to unlock the door." She nodded as she held the bag close to her chest, like she was protecting it. He rolled his eyes before reaching out to unlock the door. As he put the key and turned to unlock it he felt that he door was already unlocked. His eyes narrowed and he squeezed Shi's hand before letting go completely, "Stay behind me Shi." He said before pulling a handgun out from under his shirt. Did the people that hurt Shi follow her here?

He quietly opened up his front door and instantly heard somebody rummaging around in his kitchen. He moved quickly yet quietly to his kitchen. He whipped around the wall and pointed the gun at the person in his kitchen. Only to curse at who was sifting through his cupboards.

"What the fucking hell Dick? What the hell are you doing here? I almost shot your ass!" Jason yelled out.

Dick turned around with a smile, completely ignoring Jason's tone. He was beyond used to it, "Hey Jay-bird. I was concerned after you called me so I decided to come over and check up on you. So, is everything okay?"

Jason let out a sigh as he stuck the handgun back under his shirt "Yes Dickie I'm fine. I simply had a stray puppy follow me home."

"Stray dog?" Dick asked, he clearly remembered Jason mentioning something about a kid.

Dick's eyes went wide when a small head poked her head around Jason's back. Once she saw him her eyes went wide and she ducked back behind Jason. Dick's jaw dropped open and he pointed at him. He tucked away the information in the back of his mind that he had not heard her walking at all.

"Jay-bird what are you doing with a kid?" he screeched out.

Jason rolled his eyes, "I told you, a stray puppy." He turned around and reached down to take the bag back from the kid, "Okay Shi, go sit back down. I'll make the chicken nuggets. Maybe you'll actually eat this time." He grumbled out the last part.

Before the could take a step Shi's surprisingly strong grip stopped him. He looked down at her questioningly and she pointed to the bandana.

"Oh right, yeah we can take that off now. You can also let down your tail, Dickie over there won't mind." He sent a sharp look over to his brother, "Will you Dickie?" he asked warningly.

"Um… no?" he said confused, not exactly knowing what he was agreeing to.

Jason untied the bandana and tossed it onto the table, making her dog ears completely seen. They were twitching slightly; probably thankful they don't have to be hidden anymore. In the next moment, the tail dropped out from under the sweater.

Jason sent a smirk towards Dick as he set the oven to the correct temperature, "See I told you a stray puppy followed me home." He dug into his pocket and dug out the collar that had been around her neck and tossed it at his brother who caught it without trouble, "She had that on when she first got here. She hasn't spoken a single word, not being able to speak anymore. She is very clearly super hungry but anything I make she just looks at. These chicken nuggets are my last attempt man." He explained to his brother. He would be the first to admit that he might possibly need help with this new project of his.

A slightly dark look appeared in Dick's eyes as he looked at the collar, he liked child abuse even less that Jason did which was saying a lot, "Where did you find her Jay?"

"I didn't. She found me, she walks practically silently so that's my excuse for not knowing she was following me. She was just here when I got back from patrol. She was just sitting on my bed, staring at me. I don't know how she did it, but she did. She was wearing a dirty, ripped, and bloody rag as a dress. Which is why she's wearing one of my sweaters." Jason explained catching Dick up as he put the chicken nuggets into the oven.

"Well if she doesn't want to eat those… you could always take her to the manner. I'm sure if anyone could find something for her to eat it would be Alfred."

Jason made a face at the mention of the manner, "I don't know Dickie. She's really skittish and shy. I don't know if bringing her around Bruce and/or Damian is a great idea."

"Well what are you going to do if she doesn't eat the nuggets?" Dick asked seriously as he raised an eyebrow.

Jason rubbed his forehead as he looked over at Shi, who hadn't moved from the spot he had left her at even though he had asked her to sit. "I don't know Dickie." He said before turning his attention to the directions of the chicken nugget box.

When he saw that Jason was doing his best to ignore him he turned his attention onto the little girl, who was now staring at him with guarded eyes. Tiny stars appeared in Dick's eyes as he launched himself at the little girl. He felt the girl try to avoid him at first, but he was a fraction quicker pulling her into a hug. The girl stiffened completely into his hug and a frown appeared on his face, glad that she wouldn't be able to see it. He decided right there and then that he would treat her just like she was part of the family. She reminded him a lot of Damian when he first came to the manor which was not a good thing.

"Oh my gosh you are so cute Shi! The cutest little thing I've ever seen." He said as he cuddled her. He felt her slowly relax and his frown turned into a smile. So, she wasn't against physical contact like Damian had been. He figured she had been wary about him possibly attacking her which made him worry about what she had been through. He decided he didn't want to stop cuddling her yet to he picked her up, which she panicked a bit about, before sitting down and placing her on his lap. He didn't stop hugging her.

Jason turned around and smirked at the sight of Dick hugging and slightly petting Shi's hair, "Don't smother her to death Dickie."

Dick smiled at him, "She's just so cute Jay-bird. Look at her adorable little fluffy ears! They are so soft." He smiled as he started concisely started petting her head. Shi's eyes became half lidded as Dick kept petting her. She slowly relaxed into Dick's lap and continued to let him play with her ears. Jason noticed her fighting to keep her eyes open from Dick's careful petting and realized that she would probably be pretty tired by now. It was already seven and who knew how much sleep she had gotten today traversing through Gotham.

A little while later a timer went off making Shi jump slightly at the sudden sound. Jason took nuggets out of the oven and placed them on a plate in front of her, "Here you go kid. Please eat these." He practically begged her.

She leaned forward slightly to look at the food that was placed in front of her. Like before the smell put her off of the food, she scrunched up her nose and slumped back against Dick's chest and looked up at him. Hunger was clear upon her face and Dick was immediately worried about her, why wouldn't she eat?

Dick's lips turned downward as he heard her stomach rumbled loudly, "What's wrong Shi? They are good, see." He reached down and picked them up, tossing it into his mouth, "See yummy." He said through the nugget in his mouth, they were a bit overdone but it was better than most of the things Jason usually makes. Which shows that he was actually trying.

A small frown appeared on her face but she didn't go to grab any of the nuggets. She seemed to slump even further into Dick. Her stomach was really starting to hurt, and all the gross smelling food was making her slightly nauseous.

Dick looked at Jason, "I happen to know that the manor is empty right now. Bruce is out on patrol, and little D is with him. She needs to eat something Jase. Alfred could find something for her to eat, I just know it."

Jason let out an aggravated sigh and ran a hand through his hair, "Okay, fine, you win. We'll take her to see Alfred. But we are leaving before Bruce and the little demon gets back." Neither of them noticed the slightly bright light that lit her eyes when he said demon.

Dick let out a grin and picked Shi up and he stood before handing her over to Jason, "Alright then. You take Shi over and I'll ride on ahead and let A know we're coming. We'll get something into her rumbly little tummy in no time." He started heading out before turning around with a serious look on his face, "And Jason, be careful when taking her on your bike okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Get out of here Dickhead."

"Love you to Jay-bird." Dick said before practically skipping out the door.

Jason turned his head to look at Shi who was in his arms, "Have you ever ridden a motorcycle before kid?"

Shi shook her head in confusion, she didn't even know what that was. Motorcycle wasn't something they thought pertinent for her to know.

"Well first time for everything. If you love going fast you'll love motorcycles."

Shi grinned slightly, going fast was something she loved doing. Her and Yasha used to have races all the time in the gym, he was always faster than she was though.

"Let's head to the hell hole disguised as a manor." Jason grumbled as he carried Shi out of his apartment and down to the parking garage. Only good thing about going to the manor was that Alfred could look at Shi's wounds and bandage them up properly.


	4. Chapter 4

Jason looked down at the girl who refused to let go of his hand. She was looking around constantly, her ears swiveling from side to side constantly. She seemed to be scared about something, searching for a threat that wasn't there. He patted down her hair, trying to calm her down. Her hair was super windswept from the ride over, and in need of a good wash he realized. He would need to get her into a shower soon, she would probably enjoy getting fully clean. The ride over seemed to have fun the entire time. He had felt her shake with laughter when he spe dup or took corners sharply. It seemed she was a tiny adrenaline junkie.

He heard her stomach growl again and he frowned. They had been just standing outside the door for a good two minutes. Jason was fighting the urge to simply turn around and walk away. Shi's growling stomach reminded him that he couldn't simply flee this time. With a resigned sigh and a whispered, "Fuck it." He opened the door and walk in, pulling Shi along with him.

Alfred met them in a foyer, "Good evening Master Jason, Miss Shi. Come with me, I have made a selection of choices that may appeal to young Shi's appetite."

Jason gave a shrug as he smirked, "You heard the man." He took his hand out of her back before giving her a slight nudge forward. She stumbled forward, not expecting him to push her, and caught herself on Alfred's leg. Once she realized what she was holding onto she let go immediately and took a few quick steps back, looking straight down at the ground. She tensed slightly anticipating the worse, touching wasn't allowed back at the lab. She was fine with touching Jason as he reminded her of Yasha. The man Jason had brought to his house had initiated the touching so that had been fine. This man however would probably be mad at her for touching him without his permission, even if it had been an accident.

Alfred looked down at the small child who absolutely refused to look at him, she was looking like she was bracing herself for something, "All is well young miss, no harm done. It is entirely Master Jason's fault I assure you."

Shi looked up at him, eyes slightly wide before dashing towards Jason and hid behind his legs. She peaked out behind him and watched the old man with scrunched eyes. She grabbed onto Jason's pant leg with both hands and fully refused to let go. She might have even used her claws slightly to grip the fabric a bit better.

Jason chuckled as she started walking towards the kitchen. Shi directly behind him, "Good to see you too A." he was actually really looking forward to seeing what Alfred had cooked. Alfred's cooking was simply the best.

Shi was practically walking on Jason's heels as she glared at his legs. She was made at him for pushing her, but she also felt the safest with him. The nice doctor had always told her that she had a great sense of character and that if she trusted someone she should stick close to them. She trusted Jason, but this was a new place and new people. She had seen more today than she had ever in the past and it was starting to overwhelm her. This house was huge, she liked Jason's place better than here. Jason's place was small and cozy, if not a bit messy. Shi glanced pack at the man following them calmly. She wasn't sure what to think of him. He seemed calm mannered and he hadn't seemed to mind her touching him. Unless he was just pretending while Jason was around. He seemed nice enough but her senses screamed that he was dangerous, she just didn't know if it was to her or not.

There were also so many new smells in this place. She could smell the scents of ten different people lingering around the most, and those were just people. Some of the scents were faint though, like Jason's scent. She could tell that he had spent a lot of time here, just not in a long time. She could smell Dick's scent from all over the house, but his current location was in the direction they were walking in. Well, she was pretty sure his name was Dick. Now that she thought about it Jason had called him a lot of different things. Some of them hadn't been very nice so she was pretty sure those weren't his name. He also didn't look like a Goldie, that was more of a girl's name she thought. She also caught the scents of three different animals, only two of them were inside however. The scent that caught her attention the most though was the food they were walking towards. She had never smelled food that smelled so heavenly before. The food at the lab had been very bland. It had basically only served the purpose of giving her the appropriate number of calories. Taste wasn't a factor, even with her advanced taste buds.

As they entered the kitchen Shi was swept off her feet by Dick as he picked her up and settled her on his hip. She had gripped Jason's pants tighter, caught off guard by Dick's fast movements. She was pretty sure she might have ripped Jason's pants a bit in the process. She hoped that he didn't notice and get mad at her. She wasn't on Dick's hip long as he sat down and placed her on his lap. The same position they had been in at Jason's place. She decided that she like sitting on his lap, it was warm and comfortable.

Her eyes went wide as she looked across the table and saw the amount of food on the table. There were so many different kinds and they all smelled so good. Most of the stuff she had never even seen before. She looked up at Dick questionably before moving her gaze to Jason, the question still clear on her face. What was she supposed to do?

"Have at it kid." Jason said before starting to load up his own plate, he hadn't realized how hungry he was himself.

Dick explained it a bit nicer, "You can pick out whatever you want. If it's a bit too much for you why don't you choose one thing to start out with. Which one looks the best to you?" Dick gave her an encouraging look, but on the inside, he was very concerned for her. Just what had she been through? Not even Damian had been this bad when he first came here.

A thoughtful frown came over her face as she looked over the selections. They all smelled amazing and looked just as delicious. Some of them looked like they would hurt her throat to eat though unfortunately. She did want to eat them, but she would have to do so when her throat healed a bit more. She had really destroyed it last night. Finally, she slowly and cautiously pointed to a bowl that had small puffy white things floating in a liquid along with veggies. She wasn't sure what it was, but it smelled good and looked like it was easy to eat. She was a bit cautious at the moment because she wasn't sure if this was going to end up being just a big game to them. She was really hungry and she hoped they weren't just playing her, pretending to be nice and helpful. The people at the labs played it all the time with her. they would show her a bunch of neat things and then tell her to pick out the thing that called to her the most. Sometimes she would get to keep it for a while but other times they would get taken away right away. Either way those things always got taken away from her. Would this food as well?

The man Jason had called A scooped some out of the big bowl and in to a smaller bowl for her. He then placed the dish in front of her along with a spoon, "Chicken dumpling soup. Good choice Miss Shi." He said before walking to the other side of the table to clean up some of the mess Jason had already made.

Dick gave her head a little rub and smiled down at her, happy with her that she had chosen something? "Alfred's chicken dumpling soup heals the soul it does. It always manages to make me feel better when I'm feeling down."

Shi looked down at the bowl of soup with wide eyes, the man could make food that healed people? She went to grab the spoon but stopped when she realized that neither Dick nor Alfred had gotten their food yet. Her hunger had almost made her forget about waiting her turn. Her and Yasha never got their food until all the workers had eaten what they wanted, and that was only on the odd chance they got to eat with other people. Most of the time they were sent back to their room before the slop they called their food was delivered to them. Even still they got their food when the others were done eating. Would she already be in trouble for picking out her food first? It looked like there was enough food for everyone, but she had smelled a bunch of other people's scents around the house. Maybe this was all for them? But them why had Dick told her to pick out her food?

Dick frowned slightly as he saw her hesitate to grab the spoon. He could tell she wanted to start eating, her growling stomach was proof of that. Why wasn't she eating yet? "What's wrong Shi?" all she did was look up at him with expectant eyes, "Are you waiting for something?" he asked curiously.

Shi nodded slowly and pointed to Dick and then the food, trying to express what she was trying to say. She very desperately missed being able to talk, she had used to talk a lot. Ironically Yasha had used to tell her that she talked too much, he had been very angry when her voice was taken from her though so she was pretty sure he didn't really mean it.

"I think perhaps Master Dick that she is waiting for you to get your own food." Alfred gave his input.

Realization pooled into Dick's eyes as he smiled down at Shi before putting a pork chop and some potatoes on a plate for him to nibble on. He wasn't super hungry having eaten before heading over to Jason's place, but he would eat so that Shi would start eating. "You waiting on me Shi. That's nice but it's honestly not necessary. You can eat whenever you get hungry, Alfred's always has something in the kitchen ready to eat."

Shi nodded and then pointed to Alfred as well. He wasn't eating yet either. Jason was watching the whole thing in amusement. Sure, he was beyond pissed off at whoever had made the kid act like this, but watching Dick and Shi interact was beyond entertaining to watch.

Dick full on grinned over to Alfred whose eyes had widened slightly, "You heard the girl Alfred. Why don't you sit down and eat with us?"

A slight frown came over Alfred's face, "I think not Master Dick."

"You want Shi to eat, don't you? I really don't think she will until you eat something. Do you want to girl to starve Al?" Dick grinned before putting a forkful of potatoes in his mouth.

Alfred looked at the clearly hungry girl who was looking at him with expectant eyes. She truly was waiting for him to eat before she would start herself. "Very well, but only this once Master Dick."

Dick was beaming in victory as Alfred sat down and placed a simple egg tart in front of himself. He had been trying to get Alfred to sit down and eat with them since he was nine, this was a victory for the record books! Dick looked at all the different food and idly wondered if there was a gala coming up that he forgot about. This truly was a lot of food to have prepared so quickly. He made a mental note to check his phone calendar before he went to bed, if he missed another one of Bruce's gala's this month Bruce would have his hide.

Finally, after everyone else had at least taken a few bites, Shi picked up her utensil and spooned up one of the dumplings. The other three in the room watched expectantly, hoping she would eat more than one bite. As she ate her first bite the look that overcame her face would be one that none of them would ever be able to forget. Shi's face lit up entirely, eyes went wide as she chewed and swallowed happily. She very quickly went for another bite and the room let out a relieved sigh, she was eating.

Shi shoveled food into her mouth as quickly but as carefully as she could. She didn't want to hurt her throat more by eating, that would just be embarrassing. This was delicious though! She had never eating anything that tasted so good in her life. The flavor just exploded in her mouth. Each bite had so many tastes in it that had her practically begging for more. Before too long she emptied her bowl but was still hungry.

"Are you still hungry Shi?" Dick asked curiously. He really wouldn't doubt if she was. When she nodded, licking her lips to get the leftover broth off, he smiled. He looked down at his barely touched plate and scooped up a small bit of his mashed potatoes, "Do you want to try my potatoes?"

Shi looked up at Dick, he looked so eager for her to accept. She took a deep breath and then choose to be brave. These people have been nothing but nice to her and until they hinted otherwise she was choosing to believe in them. She nodded and when he brought the fork closer she ate the bite off of his fork. Her eyes went wide once again in wonder, how did Alfred make his cooking taste so good? She had had potatoes before but they hadn't tasted anything like this. Dick gave his go ahead to eat the rest that was on his plate and she hardly even hesitated.

For the next twenty minutes she tried small portions of everything on the table that looked safe for her throat to eat. She was finally full, for the first time in what seemed forever. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she was actually full. She was never hungry long at the lab, but the meals never really filled her up either.

She had just settled back into Dick's chest when a noise from within the house caught her attention. Her ears swiveled as she heard two sets of footsteps coming towards them. She tensed slightly, more people?


	5. Chapter 5

Dick felt Shi tense up in his lap and he looked down at her in concern, "What's wrong Shi?"

Shi wiggled her way off of Dick's lap and made her way over to Jason. She clung to his leg as she started at the closed kitchen door. Jason looked down at the child that was now clinging to his leg. He put a hand on her head, petting her ears slightly trying to calm her down.

"It would appear the Master Bruce and Master Damian have arrived home early." Alfred said.

Jason narrowed his eyes in anger towards Dick as he got up off the chair, "I thought they weren't supposed to be back until later Dickhead. Come on Shi let's get out of here."

"I didn't know he was coming back so soon Jay I promise. He could possibly help though. Just talk to him." Dick pleaded.

"Shi is not ready to meet them Dick."

Alfred stood up and made his way to the small child, "Would you like some tea Miss Shi?" he had seen her eyeing his cup during the meal. She looked up at him wide eyes before glancing at Jason, most likely asking for permission.

"If you do that's fine Shi." Jason said.

Shi looked back to Alfred and nodded slightly. Alfred held out a hand for her to grab onto and Shi looked up at it with wide eyes.

"Go on with Alfred Shi, I'll be around. Got to deal with something quick." Jason said, glaring at Dick slightly.

Shi very hesitantly let go of Jason's leg and reached up go grab the outstretched hand. She looked back and gave sad eyes at Jason before following Alfred as he led her. "I shall bring her back to you when we have finished our cup of tea. I suggest you finish up your disagreement with Master Bruce in a quick manner."

Without further ado he left the room holding onto Shi's hand, leading her to where they kept their tea tins. They had a wide variety of teas. He had gotten a wider selection when Master Damian had moved in. He was the only other one in the family that liked tea, the rest of them all preferred coffee. As he stopped in front of the tea tins he watched her look at them all, a look of wonder in her eyes.

Shi looked at all of the different types of tea around her. They smelled very pleasant to her nose, an almost calming scent. The nice doctor had shared his tea with her all the time when she got to visit him. She had come to love the different types of warm beverages. Most of the time all she got was water, milk every once in a while. Only if the mean doctors were feeling generous though.

"Which kind would you like to have Shi?" the old man asked her.

She looked at the writing on the fronts of all the tins, did he expect her to be able to read? She guessed that most kids here age were able to read somewhat at this point. She never had time to learn how to read however and that hadn't been something they taught her in her initial programming. She knew what kind she wanted, she knew herbs very well and tea leaves happened to fall under that category of knowledge. Types of herbs and plants were one of the few things that she simply knew for some reason. She was never taught them, and it hadn't been part of the programmed learning session when she was made. She assumed that it was something that her original simply knew by heart and it had transferred to her somehow. She knew that she wanted either slippery elm tea or chamomile tea. She knew that slippery elm was not a very common type of tea however so she doubted that he would have it. Chamomile tea would work just as well to help her sore throat. Maybe if she refrained from trying to talk at all, drank chamomile tea daily, and took it pretty easy her throat could heal in a month or two. If she was lucky that was. She had no idea if her throat was even able to heal, she didn't know the long-term effects of being under the effects of the miasma. She didn't think it was good though. She was just holding onto the hope that she would be able to talk again one day. She really did miss being able to speak and she kinda hoped that she would be able to talk to Jason one day.

Now came the challenge picking out the scent of chamomile tea from the multitude of different teas lining the wall. Don't get her wrong, she sense of smell was very good. But it was hard to pick out a single scent from a wall that smelled very strongly of many different tea leaves.

Alfred watched her look at the wall. Her look of wonder had become one of frustration. Was she having trouble deciding? Then something dawned to him as she started slightly sniffing towards the tins. Was she not able to read the names of the tea?

"Forgive my question Miss Shi, but are you unable to read?" Alfred asked her.

Shi looked over to him quickly with wide eyes before she lowered her gaze toward the floor and shook her head no. Was he going to be angry that she couldn't do something that he expected of her. Not being able to read wasn't something she had to worry about at the lab as they expected her not being able to read. In fact, they welcomed the fact that they could keep secrets from her and Yasha by simply writing down what they wanted to keep hidden and they would never be able to figure out what they were saying. Being outside the lab however there was a whole new set of expectations.

Jason had gotten rid of the fact that she was supposed to wear her collar at all times. It had a shocking element to it that the scientists would use if they didn't follow directions. If they took their collars off then they would get really mad at them. She knew they had been talking about making a collar that couldn't be taken off easily, only by key or code or something like that. She had escaped before they implemented those however. She was allowed to wear something that wasn't the standard white dress that she was always expected to wear. She was allowed to touch people and they didn't get mad at her. Jason, Dick, and Alfred had even held her hand. The only people to do that before were Yasha and the nice doctor. Yasha had complained about it though, said it was embarrassing to do. She was also allowed to eat at the same time as everyone else here which felt very strange to her. Yasha would have loved it she knew.

Alfred noticed that she was very unsure of herself and kneeled down to her level, "That is perfectly fine Shi. If you stay around here more I am sure there are people who will help you learn how to read. I can teach you myself if you wish. I assume if you can't read you also are unable to write?"

Shi shook her head once again, this time looking at him through her eyelashes. She was still mainly looking at the floor but he honestly didn't seem mad at her. Or even disappointed that she couldn't do what her wanted her too.

"From what I have noticed you have an enhanced sense of smell, is that right?" he asked her. When she nodded and looked up at him more, a questioning glance in her eyes he continued, "If it will help you find which type of tea you are looking for you may take the lids off the tins and get a better smell of them."

Shi looked at him, then back at the wall of tins. She took a deep breath and reached for one of the tins. She twisted the lid of and took a small sniff. She didn't want to overwhelm her nose too much. It was still a bit sore from being out in the city earlier and she wasn't sure how many tins she would have to search until she reached the one she was looking for. She immediately put the lid back on and shook her head. No that wasn't chamomile, that one was black. She searched through a few more and recognized; oolong, green, pu-erh, ginger, and ginseng. By then she had to stop and take a break. She rubbed her nose slightly trying to clear the smells from it. She frowned at the seemingly never-ending wall of teas, maybe having tea was a bad idea if it was this troublesome.

Alfred had seen her frown and tried to help her out a bit, "Are you able to hint what kind you are looking for?"

Shi looked up at him before a thoughtfully look took over her face. After a moment she grabbed her throat and grimaced. She hoped that was clear enough that she wanted one to help her sore throat.

Understanding flooded through Alfred's eyes as he reached for a tin that would have been out of her reach anyhow. Honestly how dense had he been in that moment. Of course she would want something to sooth her throat. During her meal she had only eaten things that were soft or smooth. Things that were easy to swallow. It was entirely possible that her throat had been injured recently and that was the reason she was unable to speak. He handed her the tin, "I do believe this is the one you were searching for Miss Shi."

Shi hesitantly reached for the tin. She twisted the lid off and gently smelled inside. A smile lit up her face as she smelled the familiar scent of chamomile. She grinned up and him and nodded.

"I thought as much. Forgive my thoughtlessness Miss Shi." He took the tin back from her and led her towards the kitchens. Normally he didn't allow anyone back here as every time he did one of the boys would destroy them. He had a feeling that Shi would not be one to disgrace a kitchen however. "Let us make this right away." He filled a kettle with water before setting it on the stove to heat up. He picked the girl up after she gave her go ahead and placed her on the counter. Normally he would not allow such a thing, but there were no chairs within the kitchen and she had no shoes or socks upon her feet. The floors of the kitchen could get quite cold at times and as it was nearing winter the floors would be colder than normal. "Would you like to help me prep the tea Miss Shi." Alfred's heart lightened at the grin she sent him as she nodded eagerly.

During Shi's tea adventure Bruce and Damian entered the dining room. When they got there, they saw a sheepish looking Dick and a slightly irate Jason. The fact that Jason really was here was something of a shock. Jason usually avoided the manor like the plague so when he got an alert saying that Jason had entered the grounds Bruce had gathered Damian and headed back earlier than he had originally planned. It was the weekend so he usually allowed Damian out until two in the morning. During the school week he had to be back at the manor by eleven thirty. Damian had been a bit annoyed with the fact that he was having to go back even earlier than he did on a week day, but Bruce didn't want to miss an opportunity to talk to Jason. Jason had stayed away for a good three months this last time and he missed his second son. He uselessly hoped that this would be the time he would make up with his estranged son. It never happened, but he always held onto the hope that Jason would someday forgive him and stay in contact with his family.

Damian let out a tsk as she glared at Jason, "So you did show you face around here Todd. How inconvenient."

Jason let out a sigh that sounded more like a growl, "Yeah this was a bad idea. I'm leaving." He started walking away. Strangely not towards the front door, but towards the kitchens.

"Jay-bird come on just try." Dick turned to look at Bruce, "Jay needs some help with something."

Jason grumbled before leaning up against a wall, "I am only considering this because you guys have better resources than I do and I really want to find the bastards that did this."

Bruce looked between his two sons and the expansive amount of food that was laid out on the table. Food that meant for the gala the next day. "What's going on?"

"I found something and I want to find out where it came from so I can destroy everything there." Jason said. He was careful not to mention Shi, not yet at least. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to stay and accept any help he would get here. He felt slightly responsible for Shi and he sure as shit wasn't going to treat her as badly as the fuckwads that had her previously. He could tell that she just wasn't ready for so many new people all at once, and this messed up family was definitely a large one. He wasn't sure where the replacement was tonight but he was glad that he wasn't around. Or if he was he hadn't come over by us. For all he knew he was in his room obsessing over one thing or another. The damn kid didn't know how to take a break, sometime he thought that he was almost worse than Bruce. At least Bruce knew not to research something until he passed out from exhaustion. Not that he cared or anything.

"What do you need help finding Jason?" Bruce asked.

Jason sighed as he looked up at the ceiling, trying to reign in his patience, "I don't even know myself. Probably a lab of some sort." A lab would be the place to have a project, like it said on Shi's dog tag.

"Do you have anything to go off of?" Bruce really wanted to help. If he helped he would be able to spend more time with Jason and possibly gain some of the relationship he had with his son back.

Jason nodded slightly and reached into his pocket. He felt the cold metal on the collar as he grabbed it in his fist. He could not wait to kill all of those responsible for Shi's pain. He chucked the thing over to Bruce who caught it without a problem. Bruce looked at what was thrown at him to see what looked like a normal dog collar at first glance. Upon closer inspection he saw small wires running through it that probably acted as a shock collar then. The tag on it read 'Project Shikon' and it was dented slightly. It looked like a very well-made dog collar, but other than that he couldn't make anything significant out of the piece.

"Is there a dog involved?" Bruce asked. He noticed Damian started paying close attention. The boy had a soft spot in his heart for any type of animal; examples of the cow, cat, and dog that resided upon the manor grounds. Damian was always a bit more brutal with animal abusers. Was Jason going after a group using dogs as test subjects or something?

Jason sent him an amused smirk that could mean anything and gave a small chuckle, "I guess you could say that." He looked at he time on his phone and frowned. He didn't know how much longer Shi and Alfred were going to be. He would have to make up his mind soon. Was he going to stay and accept help from them, or would he go off and sneak Shi out of the manor and do this by himself. With possible help from Dick. He glanced at the food still on the table and his frown deepened. He still didn't know why Shi had eaten this food and not any of the stuff he made. If he left now Shi would probably go back to not eating, which would not be good for her. Plus, he should probably change her bandages before he left. They had already started slightly bleeding through at his house and that had been well over an hour ago.

Dick looked at his brother who was obviously in conflict with himself, "Think what's best for Shi Jay-bird."

Jason looked up sharply at Dick before he let out a sigh of defeat. Dickhead was right, like the idiot usually was. It was Friday now, "Fine I'll give this a trial run. If it doesn't work out by Sunday I'm gone." And if Shi was uncomfortable at all then he would leave earlier. He really didn't think that Shi was mentally ready for the combined craziness off both Bruce and the demon child.

Almost like they had planned it Alfred came back into the dining room, Shi following steps behind him. She was currently holding onto one of the tail fins of Alfred's jacket and Jason grinned. This kid was going to get away with anything. If any of them had done that when they were little they would have gotten scolded for wrinkling the butler's clothing. Alfred would never be totally serious about it. He always meant they should hold onto something else instead of what they were currently doing. Both Bruce's and Damian's eyes widened when the saw the tiny black-haired child clinging to Alfred's jacket. Her bare feet making barely any noise upon hitting the floor. A long fluffy tail dragging on the ground behind her and two dog ears twitching upon the top of her head.

The moment the girl realized there were two more people within the room her eyes grew wide and she let go of Alfred's jacket. With speed that shouldn't be possible for one so young she was at Jason's side, trying with all of her might to hide behind him. She watched the two new people with wary eyes and clung desperately to Jason's leg once again. The two sets of footprints she had heard earlier had come here. From their scents she could tell that they were two of the scents that were strongest within this house. The older man was probably the owner of the house. She looked down slightly and saw her collar within the hand of the older man and she frowned slightly. Why did he have it? She looked up at Jason with fear in her eyes, was he giving her to the older man? She tightened her grip on Jason even more she didn't want to leave Jason! She liked Jason. He was the one that gave her, her new name. He took her collar off, he gave her new clothing, he brought her somewhere to get food. In her mind he was now her caretaker, whether he knew it or not. She was told at the lab that her mind thought briefly in dog terms. At the lab the main doctor was her Alpha, but she had chosen to disobey that Alpha the moment he killed Yasha. Her mind had chosen Jason as her new Alpha the moment that she laid eyes on him. Did her Alpha not want her in his pack?

"What's wrong kid?" Jason asked with a frown. Were Bruce and Damian freaking her out this much? They hadn't even said anything to her yet. Was she just overwhelmed by too many new people? The kid didn't help him much as she just buried her head in the back of his leg and shook her head slightly. He could feel her shaking and he didn't have a single clue on what had set her off. With a sigh he reached down and pried her arms off of his leg, which was a lot harder than it had any right to be. Once he freed his leg he picked her up and settled her on his hip. She immediately clung to his side, hiding her face in his chest.

Dick frowned as he watched, "What's wrong Jay? What set her off?"

Jason shrugged slightly, "He…" he glanced over at Alfred before changing what he was going to say, "Heck if I know. Was she fine in the back Al?"

"Miss Shi was perfectly happy helping make tea. She seemed to enjoy the process as much as I could tell Master Jason." Alfred said.

"What is she?" Damian blurted out, staring at the child curiously.

"She's a kid, and a dog I guess. Can't exactly ask her she can't talk." Jason said.

"She is also unable to read or write." Alfred told them.

Jason nodded to the man, "That's good to know. Haven't had her long enough to know all that much about her."

"What do you plan on doing Jason?" Bruce asked him, his eyes not leaving the tiny child.

"I plan on helping the kid." Jason said. He had come to the mindset that Shi had chosen him. She could have chosen any other single person in Gotham, but she had chosen him. He was going to help her as much as he could, and if that meant sticking around the manor for a couple days. Well he guessed it could be worse.


	6. Chapter 6

Shi woke up feeling more relaxed and rested than she could ever remember. For the first time she got to wake up by herself instead of being woken up by one of the scientists. She wrapped her tail around her onto her lap and she started combing her fingers through it. It felt really soft and it was fluffier than it usually was, her hair was the same. Jason had told her that they were staying in this big house for a few days. Shi was a little disappointed because she really liked Jason's smaller house. But she wasn't going to question him. If he wanted to stay here then they would stay here. She would just have to make herself get used to being around these other people. It wouldn't be too hard if she could stick around Jason most of the time. She could be around Dick without a problem either, he was nice. As she petted her tail her mind strayed to Alfred, the nice old man. She had had fun making tea with him yesterday. She had never been able to actually make tea before. Usually she just got to have some of the nice doctor's tea after he had it made up.

Right before they had gone to bed for the night Jason had handed her off to Alfred to help her get ready for bed. She wasn't sure what he had planned on doing at the time. At the lab they just shut off the lights indicating that it was time to sleep. There really wasn't any prep involved. Alfred had led her to a bathroom and helped her take a shower. She wasn't sure how to work anything so his help was appreciated. He had her sit on the bottom of the tub as he lathered a bunch of what he called shampoo and conditioner into both her hair and tail. He spoke the entire time he was helping her, telling her exactly what he was doing which she really enjoyed. She had been a bit scared about him being so close to her, but after a bit and his constant reassurances she lowered her guard. As he had scrubbed at her hair she had unconsciously leaned into his touch so much that she had almost toppled over when he let up pressure. He had given a small chuckle as he helped steady her. He had thankfully ignored the growing blush on her face. He then had her stand under the water to get all of the yummy smelling suds out of her hair. She felt a small amount of joy when she realized that her hair still smelled like the suds even after he washed it out. At the lab all they gave them to wash up with was a soap that didn't smell like anything. They had used it for everything; getting their bodies clean and washing their hair. Yasha had always helped her wash her tail as it was hard to reach behind her and get all of it. They had also helped wash around each other's ears. It was not fun getting the soap into their ears.

After Alfred helped her get all clean he picked her up in this big fluffy white towel. It had been so soft and strangely really warm she hadn't wanted to leave it. He had toweled her off and then had her sit on top of the counter after she put on her undies. She watched him very closely as he started looking at her wound. She was slightly irritated that it still hadn't closed all the way up. It was just starting to scab over now so it would hopefully be gone by the end of the next day. He rubbed some strong-smelling goo stuff on it that he said would help fight infections. She didn't think she would be able to get infections because her body would fight it off before it could really start. She let him continue as he looked like he knew what he was doing. He had the same look in his eyes as the nice doctor had when he was patching her up. Like he was sad and mad that she had gotten hurt in the first place. It wasn't her fault though, she had to fight otherwise the feral's would kill her. In the lab it was kill or be killed during training. The only person they had never set her up against was her brother Yasha which she was really thankful for. Neither of them would have been able to deal the finishing blow, they cared about each other way too much. Yasha had been all that she had to live for in the lab, she had been the same for him. All they had was each other. The loneliness that she had felt after Yasha had been killed had been all consuming. She had almost let the next feral she faced finish her off. Surprisingly it had been her previous mean alpha that had stepped in and killed it.

Alfred had then very concisely wrapped her wound up and then placed her back on the floor. He had then pulled a weird thing out of from under the counter, it looked like an angled piece of plastic. Alfred had called it a hairdryer. And dry hair did it ever! Warm air came out of it and he slowly but surely dried all of her hair and her tail. Her tail had taken a while as it was so thick. He then produced, what seemed out of nowhere, a set of clothing. He explained that it had been Damian's when he was a few years younger. They hadn't gotten around to donating his old clothes as of yet. It had been a pair of pants that were a bit long on her. The legs had to be rolled up a few times. Alfred said he had sowed the waist in a bit so they would stay on her, he had also cut a hole for her tail to stick through. When he had time to do that she had absolutely no idea. She was beginning to think that Alfred was magical. She wasn't sure if magical beings existed but if they did, Alfred would definitely be one. The shirt he gave her was a short-sleeved thing that was a bit long on her as well. The hem fell halfway between her butt and her knees, but it fit her much better than the sweater Jason had given her earlier. Not that she didn't like the sweater, it had been really warm and comfy. Plus, there had been plenty of room for her to hide her tail in it. She looked at herself in the mirror that was hanging on the wall and just started for a bit.

She almost didn't recognize the reflection. Her hair was fluffy, shiny, and smelled really good. Her tail was really poufy behind her as it wagged slightly with happiness with her directing it to move. She was able to completely control her tail, but it did act off her emotions if she wasn't focusing on controlling it. Her cheeks were rosy from the warm water. She looked at the pants she was wearing, it was the first time she had ever worn pants before. All she had ever worn before meeting Jason was her simple white dress. She had many of them, but they all looked exactly the same. The pants were a dark green plaid while the top was black. The clothing felt really soft against her skin and she decided that she really liked them. She hoped that they weren't taken from her after she was done using them that night. She turned to look at Alfred who was patiently holding his hand out to her. She gave him a small smile, which he had returned, before leading her back to Jason.

Jason apparently had a permanent room here. He never really used it, he hadn't much since he was fifteen he had told her. He did crash here every once in a while, mostly while he was between apartments. She didn't know why he had told her all of that, but she had given him 100 percent of her attention. She guessed that he figured since she couldn't tell anyone, she didn't mind though. He had talked for a while longer before laying her next to him on his king-sized bed and they both went to sleep.

Shi looked over to see Jason still asleep, she really didn't want to wake him up. Suddenly a noise caught her attention, it was like a chirping sound. She couldn't place it but she knew deep down that it sounded familiar even though she had never heard it herself. Perhaps this was another one of the memories she had gotten from her original? She very carefully lowered herself off the bed and onto the floor, making sure not to wake Jason up. She made her way to the window; the noise was coming from outside. She walked silently over to the window and used the ledge to lift herself up so she could see outside. What she saw made her eyes go wide, they were in the middle of nature. She hadn't noticed last night as it had been dark and she had been tired and hungry. Now though the sun was shining and everything outside looked all bright, green, and welcoming. She stared at the sun for a moment before having to look away as it hurt her eyes. The sun. This was her first time actually seeing it. She knew what it was and its purpose in the world, but she had never seen it before. Yesterday during her journey through Gotham, it had been gray and cloudy the entire day. The forest she had woken up in had not been the most welcoming and most it of had looked like it was on its way to dying. Gotham had been nothing but tall buildings and people. Here however… she wanted to go outside. She wanted to touch grass. It was such a simple thing she knew that, but she had never touched grass before. There had been a room in the lab that was filled with different trees and plants, but grass had not been there. That room had been a sanctuary to her that she often snuck off too. She was always found out and punished for it, but she couldn't make herself stop going. Yasha had gone with her the first couple time, but he learned his lesson where she had not. Shi glanced back at Jason before looking outside once again.

With a determined look in her eyes she lowered herself down and silently made her way to the door. She figured it wouldn't hurt anything. He hadn't given her any orders about where she could or couldn't go. He hadn't told her to wait for him in the morning, nothing. She would make it quick. Make her way to that very green backyard she had been looking at, become familiar with the grass that was calling to her, and then make her way back to Jason before he even woke up. She reached up for the door handle and very slowly turned the knob. As she opened the door it squeaked a bit and she immediately stopped and looked quickly over to Jason. She looked over to him fondly as he hadn't even moved, maybe squeaky doors were normal to him and it didn't register to him. She opened the door just wide enough for her to squeeze through before darting into the hall and closed the door behind her slowly. She glanced both ways down the hallway. Down one way there were more rooms where everyone else still slept. Down the other way was the steps leading downstairs and she turned herself to go down that way. As she reached the bottom of the steps she paused, now she would have to think and use her senses. One side of the building would be the front of the building where they had entered the night before, the other would hopefully lead her to the outside bit she wanted to get to. She looked down to her feet and frowned, she hoped it wasn't too dirty out there. She still didn't have any shoes as nobody had any that would fit her tiny feet. She didn't want to drag any dirt back into the house. She had a feeling that Alfred wouldn't like it if she did that and she didn't want to get on his bad side. No matter how kind and caring he was to her, her senses still screamed at her that the man was very dangerous and to not underestimate the man. Which went back to her previous theory that he was a magical being.

Putting away the thought of a magical Alfred she decided to take a right at the bottom of the stairs. She was pretty sure that if she went left it would simply take her back to the front door. With determination in her eyes, and a time limit in her mind, she started her hunt for the green grassy backyard.


	7. Chapter 7

Jason woke up slowly and realized he was feeling more rested than he had in a while. He stretched his tight muscles and let out a content sigh. He opened his eyes and instantly his mood dropped. He was in the manor? Why in the hell was he in the manor? He looked around as if to possibly deny that he was here, but nope. This was definitely his old room at the manor. He thought back to why he was here, his current safe house where he was crashing hadn't been compromised. Shi's bright blue eyes flashed through his mind. Or, right. Then his mind caught up to him. He was alone in the room. Where the fuck was the kid? He hopped out of bed so quickly that his foot got caught up in his blankets and he promptly face planted onto the floor. He let out a little annoyed groan as he kicked at the offending fabric. He got up and quickly changed into clothes that weren't wrinkled from sleeping. Alfred would have a fit if he came down in wrinkled clothing. Anyway, he had a kid to find.

He searched almost the entire manor and he still could find her. Where in the hell did she go? He noticed Alfred walking by, heading towards the kitchen, and intercepted him. Jason ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he walked up to the butler, "Hey Al have you seen Shi around anywhere? She wasn't there when I woke up." He really hadn't expected her to roam far from him with how closely she had been sticking to him. The only times she had strayed was when she was sitting on Dickie's lap and when she made tea with Alfred.

"Ah yes. I do believe I saw Master Damian taking her downstairs earlier." Alfred answered promptly before continuing his way to the kitchen.

Jason's eyebrows shot up as he quickly turned on his heal and made his way down to the cave. What in the hell was that demon brat doing with Shi? Especially with him taking down to the cave. Why would he take her there? He burst into Bruce's office and activated the elevator down the cave. His foot tapped with impatience as the normally fast elevator seemed to take forever. He wouldn't openly admit it, but he was worried about the kid.

When he finally got down to the ground level he heard the sounds of fighting coming from the training area. A fire burned in Jason's eyes. The demon brat was fighting her? She was injured for god's sake! He jogged over to the training area intent on giving the demon brat a piece of his mind. When he got them in his sights however he slowed to a stop and simply watched the two of them.

Shi twirled out of the way of Damian's blow. They way she moved it almost looked like she was dancing. She dashed by Damian leaving a small trail of red on his cheek. As Damian sent a kick her way she gracefully did a one-handed backflip. She held the side that was injured close to her to minimize the damage. Jason watched her face as she landed and a small smile appeared on her face. Realization struck him, she was honestly having fun sparing with Damian. His eyes flitted to Damian and saw the tiny smirk on his face. The demon brat was also having fun, even if he was holding himself back. He watched as Damian actively avoided her injured side. Jason let out a silent sigh as he quietly backed away. It looked like they had been at it for a while so he was sure Shi would be hungry when they finished up. The last he saw of them before he turned around was Shi's tail wagging in anticipation.

As he made his way back up he wondered how Damian and Shi had gotten together in the first place. The demon brat probably wanted to test her or something but ended up actually enjoying it. That didn't really explain why Shi had left the bedroom, to begin with. He shook off the thought and made his way to the kitchen. He saw Alfred bustling around preparing breakfast for everyone. He saw a fresh pot of coffee and a grateful smile appeared, oh god he missed good coffee. No matter how he made it his never tasted as good as Alfred's coffee. He poured himself a large cup as he watched the butler move around. He knew better to ask if the old man wanted any help. Alfred never accepted any help.

"Did you find your charge, Master Jason?" Alfred asked lightly.

Jason chuckled, "Yeah Shi is downstairs doing a light spar with the demon."

"Very good."

"What are you making for breakfast Al?" he asked casually.

"We are having Oatmeal. I think that should be proficient with Miss Shi's throat." Alfred explained.

Jason nodded in agreement. Alfred had explained to everyone what he learned while Shi was changing into her pajamas. Her throat was injured by someone, which was probably why she couldn't speak. She also was unable to read, most likely couldn't' write either. It wasn't much they had learned about her, but it was a start. He didn't know how he was going to track down the people that did all that to her. It wasn't like she could tell him who they were, or where they are. His best bet was going to be retracing her steps, so that meant hacking the cities street cameras and trying to find and track her through that. If he could find where she entered Gotham then he would at least have a direction to go on. He let out a frustrated noise as he leaned over his coffee cup. This was probably going to take a while.

"Is everything alright Master Jason?" Alfred asked without looking up from what he was doing.

Jason let out a long sigh, "All good over here. Just realized this might be a long-term mission. Can't exactly get details out of her if she can't speak or write."

"I am sure we shall figure something out." Alfred spoke with certainty in his voice.

Before Jason could say anything back a distress signal went off on his phone. He looked at it in shock and concern, who would be sending a distress signal to him? To his horror, it was from Damian down in the cave. Shi! He dropped his cup and took off sprinting back towards the entrance to the cave. Dick met him at the entrance to the office, a worried look in his eyes. It wasn't like Damian to activate his distress signal unless it was absolutely necessary. The two entered the elevator together and spent a stressful ride down.

"What do you think it is?" Dick asked seriously.

"Don't know. When I was down there before Shi and Damian were sparing in a friendly manner." Jason gave him details.

Dick nodded in acknowledgment as he readied himself for anything once the doors opened. Once they got to the disturbance they skidded to a halt, what in the world was going on?

Damian was encased in what seemed like a light pink barrier of which he was trying valiantly to break. Shi had placed herself in front of him, like she was trying to protect him. Jason realized with a start that the barrier was most likely Shi's doing. Shi looked like she was in pain as her face was scrunched up. There was a light sweat coating her face as well and her breath was coming in quick gasps. There was also a thin cut on her arm and blood was slowly dripping down her arm. They heard a low growling coming from her, but overall, she seemed to be on the defensive. Who she was protecting Damian from was none other than Tim. He seemed to be trying to placate Shi.

The moment Damian saw them he let out a huff, "Took you two long enough."

"What is going on?" Dick demanded in a rare serious tone.

"I'm sorry. Bruce asked me to come back for something and I saw her attacking Damian. I just assumed. Damian told me what was going on but then she went all protective mode and she won't stop." Tim answered in a frantic tone.

"Grayson make her put the barrier down." Damian demanded. He glanced at the girl standing between himself and Drake. "The barrier is straining her." he informed her.

Jason decided that he had enough of all this bullshit. Shi was injured again and whatever she was doing seemed to be hurting her more. He marched right until he was directly in front of her. He kneeled down until he was eye level with her.

"Hey kiddo you did good protecting the demon brat, but it's all good now. Let down your barrier now." Jason told her.

Shi had a desperate look in her eyes. She couldn't believe that Jason would willingly show his back to the enemy. She had been helping Damian with his morning exercises and had actually been having fun with it. Suddenly she had heard something coming straight for them, she pushed Damian out of the way without even really thinking. She felt her side pull and she probably opened up at least one of the claw marks. Then a sharp pain appeared on her arm, she looked down to see a new injury. Her mind had immediately snapped to defensive mode. Damian was Jason's brother, which made him part of her pack. She would protect those within her pack with her very life. She would not let anyone die anymore. She knew she probably shouldn't do it, not with her core still being so empty as evident with her previous injuries not being healed yet. But against her mind's arguments, she threw up her barrier around Damian. She felt the strain immediately but ignored it. Damian yelled some things at the attacker but didn't really pay attention to what he was saying. She needed to keep her mind and energy focused on keeping the barrier up and keeping the attacker away. Damian and the attacker talked a bit more before they turned their words onto her. She was still ignoring most things around her though. Thankfully the attacker was staying away from them, she didn't think she would be able to take them on. The barrier was taking so much from her that she was finding it hard to stay conscious. The next thing she knew Jason was in front of her and telling her to stop. Didn't he know the person behind him was hostile?

Jason sensed her distress and started barking orders, "Tim get your ass out of her sight. Dick tell Alfred we are going to need the medical kit." Tim nodded guiltily before retreating with Dick back up the manor. Jason focused back on Shi as her eyes watched Dick lead Tim away. He got her attention again by snapping his fingers in her face. She flinched slightly, probably at the sharp noise.

"Kiddo the danger is gone. I give you my word nobody else is going to attack you right now. I need you to drop your barrier." Jason promised her.

She looked him directly in the eyes before nodding briefly. Within seconds the dissolved into nothingness. Almost like it hadn't been completely solid just moments ago. The moment the barrier dropped Shi lost her balance and started collapsing. To Jason's surprise, Damian was quick to catch her. Jason raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk on his lips.

"Tt. Like I was going to let a child fall onto concrete Todd." Damian bit out.

Jason shook his head in amusement before taking Shi from him. She snuggled into his chest as he stood up. He would have to wrap up her wounds before going to breakfast. As Jason made his way to the elevator for the fourth time this day Damian headed the opposite direction, probably towards the showers. As the elevator was taking him back up to Bruce's office he looked down at Shi. She looked completely exhausted, which he didn't blame her. It looked like that barrier really took a lot out of her. In fact, she did look a bit pale. Perhaps it would be best to have to take a nap after breakfast. He knew she just woke up not all that long ago, but she really looked like she was about to collapse. He did know she had to eat first however. But before even that, he needed to take a look at the cut on her arm. Plus, he had to check on her stomach wounds. Ugh today had already been long as fuck and he hadn't even been awake two hours yet. It was like the manor drained the energy out of him. He reminded himself he was only here for the weekend, and it was for the kid's sake. God the kid already had him wrapped around her finger.


	8. Chapter 8

Jason looked at Shi one more time before quietly shutting the door. After the incident downstairs Alfred had taken her to bandage her up, again. He had brought her back to the kitchen for a light breakfast. Shi had stuck to Jason like glue and had been even more reserved than she had the night before. Jason had frowned slightly at that, it had looked like she had been opening up and relaxing a bit this morning. She had left the room by herself, which he would have never expected. The small happy smile he had seen while she had been sparing with Damian was gone now as well. She had kept her face carefully blank the rest of the morning which had been frustrating. After their breakfast, consisting of oatmeal and orange juice (well tea for Shi), he had taken her back up to his room. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she had passed out from exhaustion. He could tell she had been exhausted from just the way she had been eating. The spoon's path from the bowl to her mouth had been a long, slow process.

Now, they were finally going to talk to Tim. He slammed open the door, glaring at the replacement, "What the hell was that Tim?"

Tim's face was full of regret, "I'm sorry! In my defense I am working on two accumulative hours of sleep in the past seventy-eight hours. Bruce messaged me to come here, that something important had come up. He didn't tell me what, or that we had a guest. Especially someone that would be down in the cave." Tim tried to explain.

"Observational skills Replacement! Were you or were you not trained by the Bat? It took me one glance at them this morning that they were just sparing, even having fun with it. The demon brat was even holding back for god's sake." Jason grit out.

Damian scoffed, "As if I would go all out on an injured child."

Dick ruffled the hair of Damian and gave him a grin," Of course you wouldn't."

Damian shoved his hand off, "Get off of me Grayson."

"Damian how did you and Shi end up in the cave to begin with?" Bruce asked, speaking up for the first time.

Damian shrugged slightly, "I heard her leaving Todd's room and followed her. You had said not to leave her alone last night. She went outside to simply touch the grass. I had been getting ready for my morning exercises and I didn't want to wait any longer so I told her to follow me. I asked her if she knew how to fight and she said yes. So, I took her down to the cave to see how much she knew. She is actually a decent fighter for her age." A silence fell over them as for a few moments until Damian continued, "She had never even seen grass before, the sun either I believe. Her gaze kept drifting to the sky while I was talking with her."

"Damn them." Jason growled out. Not only had she most likely been experimented on, but they had kept her inside her entire life as well. They had also obviously been teaching her how to fight as, even with her being injured, she kept up with the demon brat well enough. His eyes darkened in rage, it was becoming more obvious that Shi had been being raised and trained to become a weapon. He thought back to the sparing he had walked in on this morning. She had even been able to draw blood. His eyes unconsciously went to Damian's cheek where he had seen her cut him. Jason's eyes suddenly went wide.

"Damian what happened to the cut on your face?"

Damian's hand went to the cheek that used to hold a cut, that was now unblemished, "She can heal others. We were taking a small break and I made a comment about how covering up the cut would be inconvenient. Suddenly her had was glowing a soft pink or purple, close to the same color of the barrier she put up. She held her hand over my cheek, it was slightly warm and it tingled a bit. When the glow died my cut was healed. Like the barrier she put up, healing also takes its toll on her. I could see the pain in her eyes. She is unable to heal herself for some unknown reason." Damian explained.

"I see two possible scenarios from what you've explained." Tim said suddenly. He had his thinking face on, "Either her powers are not natural to her and using them upsets her body. Or, she was born with her powers but whatever they did to her causes a disrupt to her natural balance." He was silent for a moment before continuing, "It's almost like her body is rejecting the use of her powers. Like two opposites fighting against each other. I think it would be best if she didn't use her abilities, at all. It could be dangerous for her in the long run."

Tim glanced over at Jason, who still looked mad at him. He wasn't sure why Jason had become so attached to the kid so quickly. It seemed that Damian was also partial to the kid, he seemed pretty worried about her. Which was odd to begin with, the demon didn't care about anyone other than himself or Dick. He knew that when he was about to say next wasn't going to go over well with Jason. Bruce had been eating breakfast. They needed his hacking skills to help track where Shi came from. But, to do that… "I'm going to need to talk to her. See if she can at least give me a point to start."

"Hell no! She is goddamned scared of you after your stunt this morning." Jason growled out.

"Master Jason, do watch your language." Alfred reprimanded strictly.

"Look, Jason, it will take me weeks if not more to try and track her. do you really want to give whoever is going to be coming after her that much free time to catch up? I feel terrible about what happened this morning alright? I really do, and I plan to apologize the first chance I get. I need to be able to start somewhere, even if it's when she first encountered you." Tim explained. It wasn't like he could track her from his apartment. All of them chose safehouses that had no cameras around, well that or they would disable them themselves.

Dick put a hand on Jason's shoulder, hoping to calm him, "I understand Jay, you're trying to do what you think is best for Shi. Why don't you just ask her and let her decide. See if she's willing. We can keep it short. Let Tim ask a few questions and then they can go their separate ways." He let out a sigh as he felt just how tense his brother was, "Listen Jay. We have no idea who she really is, or where she came from. On the flip side of that we also have no idea who is after her, or what they have at their disposal to find her for all we know they could be actively searching for her right now, or even closing in. we're going to have to make some progress." Dick gave a silent sigh of relief when he felt his brother loosen up a slightly.

"Fine." He gritted out, "But if Shi says no, the answer is just that. No."

"That is fine Jason." Brue reassured him.

Jason let out a huff, "Whatever." He shrugged off Dick's hand from his shoulder and left the room Everything in the damn manor pissed him off. He made a quick pit stop in the library on the way to his room to grab something to read as he waited for Shi to wake up. It had been awhile since he could just sit down and read.

He made his way back to his room and settled carefully onto his bed as to not wake up Shi. Shi was curled up near the middle of the bed, cutely hugging a pillow. He watched slightly amused as her ears twitched every so often. He figured it wouldn't take much to actually wake her up and made a mental note to be quiet in the mornings and nights. He took his eyes off the calmly sleeping child and opened up the book. He was quickly dragged into the narrative of the story.

He was partly into chapter three of his book when he felt something brush up against his side. he looked over and saw that Shi had rolled over in her sleep. She was now snuggled into his side, her tail draped over his leg. He smirked slightly and petted her on the head. She sighed lightly in her sleep and snuggled closer to his side.

He let out a quiet sigh as he saw how peaceful she looked while asleep. He would ask her about talking to Tim when she woke up, no need to rush anything. He would just let her wake up on her own. God knows she probably needs the rest. On one hand he was kinda hoping that she would say no. The kid had enough mental trauma as it was. On the other hand, he did want to find the fuckers who had hurt Shi as soon as possible. With a shake of his head he shook the thoughts away and turned his attention back to his book.


	9. Chapter 9

**Just a little note because there were a few questions about everyone's age. So here is my own little head cannon on everyone's ages at this moment.**

 **So, in my story Bruce left for training at the age of fifteen and returned when he was twenty-two. He was Batman solo for a year and then takes in Dick. Dick was nine at the time and that would make Bruce twenty-three. Dick is Robin for six years until he and Bruce have their big fight. Dick becomes Nightwing and then forms the teen titans.**

 **A few months later Bruce finds Jason trying to steal the tires of off the Batmobile. Jason becomes Robin at age thirteen. He dies two years later when the warehouse blows up. At this point Bruce is thirty-one, Dick is seventeen, and Jason is fifteen.**

 **Tim found out the identity of Batman when he was nine, the robin at that time would have been Jason. After Jason died and Tim saw how brutal Batman was becoming, he became determined to become Robin. Tim became Robin at age eleven. A little over a year later Jason is revived and becomes Red Hood. Tim stays as Robin for a total of four years. At this time Bruce is thirty-five, Dick is twenty-one, Jason is nineteen (not counting the year he was dead), and Tim is fifteen.**

 **Damian is introduced to his father when he is ten. He becomes Robin and Tim transitions into Red Robin. Tim joins the titans to get away, a bit bitter at the title of Robin being taken from him without being asked. Bruce disappeared for a year, everyone thinking he was dead. During that time Dick became Batman, Damian becoming his Robin. The two bonded fairly well during that year. After Bruce came back, he took back the mantel of Batman. Two years pass in relative normality until Jason finds Shi, and now their current ages in the story are…**

 **Bruce = 38**

 **Dick = 24**

 **Jason = 22**

 **Tim = 18**

 **Damian = 13**

 **Shi = 6**

 **Now on with the story!**

A few hours later the whole family was sitting in the main living room. Bruce, Tim and Dick were sitting on the largest couch together. Bruce had been reading through some paperwork, tying to catch up with things at the company. Dick was texting Barbra while leaning on the armrest of the couch, he was telling her about the new house guest. Tim was sandwiched between the two of them. He was looking through traffic cams, trying to find the moment Shi might have encountered Jason last night. He was doing his best to track Red Hood's activity last night, but Jason knew how to avoid all the cameras in Gotham if he wanted to. The only times he could find Jason was when he was taking some people out, and those were sporadic and random throughout the city.

Jason was sitting across the room on a loveseat big enough for two. He had Shi sitting on his lap, as he had this weird irrational urge to keep her close to him. She had been very tense since the moment they had walked into the room. He was almost unconsciously petting her hair trying to calm her down, like one would a nervous dog.

Damian was sitting in a large rocking chair. He had chosen a location that was closer to Jason's area than the others. He had his sketchbook in his lap and was quietly drawing something. He was doing his best to pretend he didn't want to be here.

There was an awkward silence in the air. Everyone, minus Jason and Shi, had been there for a while talking everything over. The conversation had died the moment an irritated looking Jason walked in carrying a stiff looking Shi. So, she had obviously said yes to talk to Tim, but it looked like she was second guessing her decision. The tense silence dragged on for a few more minutes, the only sound was Damian's moving pencil.

Dick elbowed Tim in the side, signaling him to start talking. Tim cleared his throat awkwardly before starting, "Hey there Shi, I never got the opportunity to introduce myself earlier. My name is Tim, I'm one of Jason's brothers. First though I would like to sincerely apologize for this morning. I thought I was protecting my brother, though I know now that I should have never attacked you. I understand if after this you want to keep your distance from me. That is totally understandable, however if you ever need me for anything, I will be happy to help.

"Now then I'll get down to business as you seem a bit uncomfortable. I need to ask you a few questions so we can find out where you came from. We want to punish the people that hurt you. Think you can do that for me?"

Shi sat there silently for a moment, her mind was reeling. Her morning attacker had apologized to her? Nobody had ever said they were sorry about injuring her. Most took pleasure in it if she was being honest with herself. She had gone into a minor panic when he said they were looking for where she came from. Were they looking to send her back? Her fears had been alleviated when he had further explained what they wanted to do. She had been astonished, they wanted to make the lab people pay? Why would they want to do that? If they did that, they would have to fight against _him_. They would never win against him. She was starting to like this family, especially Jason, and she didn't want to see any of them hurt or worse.

She had almost been destroyed when Yasha had died. Losing the nice doctor had almost made her lose her hope. If she were to lose Jason, even with only knowing him a day, she was pretty sure she would just give up. She was very tired of losing the few people she cared about. As she looked at the expectant faces across from her, she realized they honestly wanted to know where the lab was. So, in the end, who was she to question their decision for knowledge. She had learned a long time ago that simply doing what she was told made life a lot easier. There was a slight problem though, she didn't actually know where the lab was located. Other than somewhere in the woods. She had never been outside the lab until the night she had escaped. She had been in so much on a panic during her escape she hadn't really paid attention to her surroundings. All she knew was that she had ran for many miles in random directions, trying to keep the ferals form catching up to her. Then she had jumped from the cliff, losing all sense of direction. She guessed that she would try her best to help however.

She nodded slowly, showing she was willing. She would do her best to answer their questions. Though, she thought bitterly, having her voice would make this a lot easier.

Tim smiled at her, "Cool, thanks." He opened up his notebook getting ready to take notes. While he wasn't able to write down what she said, for obvious reasons, it would be handy to write down his own thoughts. It wasn't like he would actually forget anything as his memory was extremely good, but sometimes it was easier to have a physical copy of what was in his head to look at, "Let's start with the most obvious question. Do you know where the place you came from is?" he didn't really think she would, but it was worth a shot. Not many abducted people knew where the places they were being kept were.

Shi shook her head in the negative and scooted closer to Jason. Not that getting any closer than she already was, was actually possible. She was already using his chest as a backrest. She knew that these questions would help them, and honestly there were the type of questions that she was expecting when Jason had explained everything when she had woken up. But expecting something and actually hearing it were two different things. She honestly didn't want to think about her time at the lab. She had just escaped it after all.

"That's all right, I doubted you would but it didn't hurt to try. Okay how about this, do you know where you entered Gotham? That would help narrow down which direction you came from at least."

She pouted a bit as she thought. She had entered the city from the forest. So, hopefully that information would help him. Well as long as Gotham wasn't completely surround by forests. How was she supposed to explain that though? Sometimes she had to actually bite her bottom lip to stop herself from talking. She was so used to just being able to say what she wanted to, not being able to talk was so frustrating. Suddenly the scratching of Damian's pencil caught her attention. A barely noticeable smirk appeared on her face. She wasn't able to write, but she sure could draw. Maybe not well, but well enough for them to figure it out. They seemed pretty smart.

She reluctantly scrambled off of Jason's lap and made her way towards Damian. She did make sure that she stayed far enough away from Tim. He didn't seem like a bad person, and he did apologize, but she wasn't going to take any chances. She stopped in front of Damian and looked at him for a moment. For some reason he was pretending that he wasn't listening, but she could tell he was hyper-vigilant of everything in the room. She reached out and softly tugged on his sleeve. He moved his attention from his sketchpad to her, his eyebrow raised in question. She shyly pointed at his book.

His eyes widened slightly in understanding before letting out a sigh. He skootched over making just enough room for her next to him. It was a tight fit, but she managed to squeeze in next to him. Before handing the notebook over he flipped the page he was working on, she did manage to see a glimpse of what was on the page though. She unconsciously reached out and stopped him from turning the page fully. She felt him flinch at the unexpected contact but for a moment her eyes didn't want to leave the page. It was a sketch of her sitting on Jason's lap, it was almost like an unfinished photograph. She sent him a small smile as she let go of his hand, letting him continue flipping the page. He was really good and she honestly loved what he had drawn so far, she couldn't wait until it was finished. If he would let her see it. Damian let out a 'tsk' sound as he finished flipping the page. He handed her the book and a pencil.

A thoughtful look appeared on her face and Dick had to hold back a laugh. Her thinking face was so adorable. Shi was trying to figure out what to draw. What would help the most? She gave a slight shrug before starting to doodle. She could feel Damian watching her every move, but didn't really mind. She was borrowing his utensils after all. She started with the cliff she had jumped off of, at the top of the page. Then she moved onto a winding river that stretched down the length of the page. Near the bottom of the page she drew some trees. At the very bottom she doodled tall buildings like she had seen during her trek through the city yesterday. Just as she thought she was done she felt a tap on her arm. She turned to see Damian smirking at her, holding his colored pencils. She grinned back at him before grabbing the blue. For just a little while Shi was content, it was almost like she was back spending time with Yasha whenever they had a free moment. After a few minutes of coloring the different parts of her page she handed the book back to Damian. She hopped off the chair and ran back to Jason, making herself comfy on his lap.

Dick got up and grabbed the sketchbook from his little brother and brought it back to his seat. He looked at the doodles and a grin split his face, her art was just as cute as she was. They were classic children doodles, but they were still pretty good. Her shading was very decent. He started trying to decipher her pictures. He looked at the picture at the top of the page, where he assumed, he was to start. As he looked at the topmost picture his lips tilted down a bit.

"A cliff?" Tim asked out loud.

Shi nodded and held her hand out flat to simulate the cliff. She then held out her pointer and middle finger on her other hand to symbolize herself. She did point to herself to make sure they understood her second hand was meant to be her. She put her person hand on top of the other before showing herself jumping off.

Bruce's eyes widened at her implication, "Wait a moment, you jumped off of a cliff?"

When Shi nodded her head in acknowledgment, Tim asked in astonishment, "How are you not more hurt than you are?"

Shi shrugged, honestly, she was surprised herself. She had been half expecting to die when she had chosen to throw herself off of that cliff. She pointed at the page, to the pictures she had drawn.

"You fell into the river?" Dick asked. Shi nodded again. He looked at the pictures and started trying to decipher the rest of the doodles.

Tim beat him to it, "Alright let me see if I got this right. You escaped from wherever you were and eventually jumped from a cliff. You fell into a river and rode that downstream for a while. You ended up in a forest that borders our city. Does that sound right?" Tim asked. If she came straight from a forest then that would narrow it down quite a bit. She either came from the east or the north. Going south would lead to Metropolis and west took you to Central City.

Shi nodded again, her gaze drifting towards the sunshine filtering through the window. It had caught her attention a few times during the whole conversation, but she did her best not to let it distract her. It was just so pretty. Dick smirked as he stood up. He walked over to her and scooped her up off of Jason's lap. He felt her instantly cling to his shirt, giving her some semblance of control. He felt her tail tickle his leg a bit as she presumably kept her balance in his arms, "I have an idea. Why don't we have a picnic for lunch? That'll be fun, right?"

Shi tilted her head in confusion. She didn't actually know what that was. What was a picnic and why would it be fun?

Dick gasped in fake outrage, "You've never been on a picnic? Well that certainly has to change. It'll get too cold out pretty soon to do it later." It was nearing October so while they still had some nice warm days every once in a while, the cold was slowly taking over. They would have to bring a blanket along in case it got chilly out, they had yet to have any clothes that actually fit her. They would have to fix that soon, Dick realized. She couldn't very well keep going around in Damian's old clothes, they were way too big for her.

"I shall have everything prepared by noon." Alfred said appearing out of nowhere.

Dick felt Shi jump in his arms and he hid his smirk, even Shi didn't hear Alfred moving apparently. Shi watched the butler walk away with wide eyes. That settles it she thought, Alfred was definitely a magical being. If Dick could have heard her thoughts, he would have burst out laughing.


	10. Chapter 10

After the group meeting, Tim made his way down to the Batcave to start researching. He could start watching cameras around the edges of Gotham that bordered the woods. He really needed to find where she came out of so he could start backtracking her. His goal at the moment was to find the lab she escaped from; it would hopefully make up for attacking her. He still felt really bad about that.

Dick had dragged Jason away to help gather things for the picnic. Alfred would get all of the food ready, but Dick wanted to participate as well. Since it would be nice and warm for her, they had dressed Shi back into Jason's sweater that she had come over in yesterday. She was given a pair of Damian's socks for her feet. When Dick got the full look of her, he broke out into giggles. She looked so cute, everything she was wearing was way too big for her. It was like a kid playing dress-up in their parents clothing. Dick had sent Damian and Shi ahead outside as Shi seemed to want to go out there as soon as possible and he still didn't want to leave her alone. Plus, to his amusement and happiness, Damian didn't seem to mind spending time with Shi. Dick watched as Damian led the way outside, his sketchbook in his hands. Shi was loosely holding onto the back of his shirt as she shuffled after him. As soon as Alfred finished up the food and gave it to them, he was going to head out to do some shopping. Mostly clothing for Shi, and some other things for her.

Damian led Shi outside, he planned on waiting outside by the large tree out back. He spends a good amount of his free time lounging underneath that tree, usually with Titus. He sat down and Shi stood silently next to him.

"You can sit down if you like, or you can look around if you would rather do that. It's up to you, just make sure I can still see you if you choose to wander." Damian said and immediately started sketching. Shi sat down next to him and her attention drifted between watching Damian draw and watching the beautiful view around her. Both of them started to think about what had transpired this morning, before the whole incident with Tim.

Shi stood outside fidgeting from one foot to the other. She was currently standing on the concrete base on the edge of the grass. Now that she was here, she was having trouble taking that final step. She had dreamed of playing around on green grass like this for almost a year now. Ever since she had overheard some of the scientists talking about it. She had built up this idea in her head on how it would be, how it would feel. Now that she was here, she was slightly scared that the real thing wouldn't measure up to what she had imagined. She scowled at herself and shook her head, trying to clear the bad thoughts. She could do this. She Would do this. A determined look appeared on her face as she started squatting down to touch the grass.

A voice stopped her just before she could however, "What are you doing?" Damian snapped at her.

Shi froze, her hand a few inches from the grass. She turned her head to look at him and her body tensed for a whole different reason. Damian was already dressed for the day, though his hair was still messy. A frown was on his face, but that was all she had seen on his face since last night. So maybe that was his default face? As her eyes traveled from Damian to slightly behind him, her eyes widened in fear. There was a huge dog right behind him, it was probably as tall as her. Now, ironically, she was not a fan of dogs. Dog demons she was fine with, but actual dogs scared her. They would sometimes use dogs to punish. The type of dog behind Damian wasn't the breed they used at the lab, but that didn't really mean much to her mind. Damian's dog was so much bigger than the ones at the lab, which made it so much worse.

The dog took a couple steps forward and Shi unconsciously took a nervous step back. Her mind had forgotten she was squatting down however, so she ended up falling to the ground. The moment her hand touched the grass she forgot about the possible danger the dog could mean. Her head whipped to look at the grass. Her eyes grew wide and gained a shine to them and a smile bloomed on her face. She started petting the grass and she silently giggled. The actual thing was so much better than what she had imagined. It was soft yet prickly and it was still slightly wet.

Damian watched the girl in confusion. He honestly hadn't meant to startle her; he just hadn't expected her to be up yet. It was still pretty early. Usually the only ones up at this hour was Pennyworth and himself. He had been getting ready for his morning training when Titus had indicated he needed to go outside. He hadn't expected the dog girl to be out here. He had thought she would stick close to Todd as she had done last night. he really didn't know what she had been planning on doing, but it looked a bit suspicious. He quickly noted her apparent fear of Titus seconds before she fell onto the yard. The girl was now strangely petting the grass with a smile on her face. He scoffed; it was like she had never seen grass before. Titus must have mistaken the girl's grass petting as a beckoning as he started trotting towards her.

"Titus." Damian called out in warning, trying to stop the dog's advance, but he strangely ignored him.

Shi noticed something was wrong as a shadow loomed over her. Her nose indicated it was the large dog, one of the animals she had smelled the night before. She froze once again, her fist grabbing into the lawn. She felt dirt embedding itself under her fingernails. Was it going to attack her? Would she get in trouble for defending herself? It seemed like it belonged to Damian so he would probably be angry with her if she hurt the dog. She decided not to do anything so she watched, terrified, as the dog's face got right in front of hers. In the next instant the dog was sitting next to her and it was licking her face. Shi stayed frozen, not daring to move. This had never happened before; she had no idea what to do. The dog seemed happy though, almost friendly towards her? She didn't want to startle the dog into attacking her, especially with its face so close to hers. She simply didn't know why he wasn't already attacking her.

Damian growled in irritation as Titus ignored him, he never ignored him, and proceeded to sit next to the dog girl. As Titus started happily licking the scared girl's face he sighed and approached the two. He grabbed hold of Titus' collar and pulled him away from her.

"Go on Titus." Damian demanded with another tug. Titus let out a small whine before trotting off into the yard. Damian turned his gaze to the girl who still had a death grip on the lawn. He noticed the slight trembling in her arms and frowned slightly. He wasn't actually sure what upset him; that somebody was afraid of Titus, or that she was scared. He decided to ignore both and simply asked, "What are you doing out here?"

Shi registered the question, but it took her a moment to actually form a reply. She made her hand let go of the grass before she held her hand out that still had blades of grass in her palm.

Damian looked at her outstretched hand, it was still shaking a bit, at the grass in her hand, "Grass? You came out here for grass?" he let out a small scoff, "What have you never seen grass before?" he asked mimicking his thoughts from earlier.

Shi let her hand drop, the grass blades falling from her hand. A slight blush crossed her face and she shook her head no slowly.

Damian looked at the dog girl with slightly new eyes. Last night after Todd had taken the girl to bed Father, Grayson, and himself had talked. Grayson had compared the dog girl to him. But even he had seen grass before coming to live with Father. Infinity Island had plenty of grass throughout the Island. There had been one field in particular he liked to meditate in. he let out a small sigh. Now that he let out Titus, he really needed to start his morning training. He also felt it would be a bad idea to just leave her out here. Plus, Grayson had said not to leave her alone.

"Girl, do you know how to fight?" he asked briskly. Shi looked up at him and nodded slowly. She was unsure why he was asking. Was he going to make her fight someone? Was he going to make the fight that ginormous dog? She watched the boy as he refused to look directly at her.

Damian looked at the area just beyond her shoulder as he said, "I could use a sparring partner if you feel like doing something."

Shi watched him with wide eyes. He wanted her to fight _with_ him? Would that be like when she and Yasha sparred with each other? She did want to take it easy, for her throat and side. He was a normal human though, so it wasn't like she would have to go all out. She made up her mind as she stood up. She took a step towards him and he finally looked at her again. She gave him a small smile and a nod. She didn't want her skills to become rusty with miss-use. She wasn't dumb enough to think that the Alpha she betrayed wasn't going to keep looking for her. The fact he had released the ferals outside of the lab proved that much. He always did have more interest in her than with Yasha. She knew eventually find her and she wanted to be prepared.

"Good, follow me then." He led her to the entrance to the cave and they entered the elevator. Damian thought things over on the trip down. He would have to go easy on her, for two reasons. First of all, he had no idea how well she could fight, she was half his age, for all he knew she could be a beginner. Second of all she was injured and if he hurt her more both Grayson and Pennyworth would be unhappy with him.

Damian glanced at the small child sitting next to him. She had actually been a pretty good fighter, especially for her age. He would say that she was about on par with where he was at her age. Grayson didn't seem to be too far off on his comparison to her. Only she seemed to have been more isolated than he had been. While he was able to roam the entire Island, she had been stuck to a single building. He also felt oddly protective of her, he wondered if this was what it felt like to be the elder brother. It was a bit of a weird feeling, but he wasn't completely against it. Movement caught his eye and he saw Titus making his way over to them. He saw the moment that Shi noticed as well as she went from relaxed to tense within seconds.

"Shi, this is my dog Titus. He is a Great Dane and exceptionally well trained. He will not harm you at all." Damian explained. He didn't want her to be afraid of his dog, Titus was a gentle giant. "See watch." Damian turned his attention to his dog, "Titus, come."

Titus recognized his owner's serious tone and quickly trotted over. He stopped about a foot away and waited for his master's next command. Usually treats followed, and he loved treats.

"Sit." Damian commanded and Titus was quick to follow, "Lay down. Stay." The giant canine laid his head on the ground and waited.

Damian turned his attention back to Shi, she seemed to be slightly less terrified. Which he counted as a good progress. He started petting the dog's head, "Would you like to pet him?" Damian asked.

Shi turned to him with wide eyes. She could touch the dog without it attacking her? Well it wasn't attacking Damian, though he was its owner. She very slowly started reached out to where Damian was scratching the dog's head. The moment her hand met the dog's head it sunk slightly into the fur. She stopped to see what the dog was going to do, but to her astonishment it didn't do anything. She slowly started moving her hand around the soft, warm fur, testing to see what the dog would do. It still did absolutely nothing, other than stick its tongue out happily. Maybe it was just the breed of dog they had at the lab that was mean? A slow smile started spreading across her face, this was actually kinda nice.

"Oh, look a bonding session." Jason teased as he finally made his way outside. Dick was steps behind him holding a small basket.

"Aww, so cute!" Dick said before taking a picture of the three of them. Thankfully he got the picture milliseconds before a scowl appeared back on Damian's face. Shi had a slightly awed look on her face as she petted Titus. Not knowing that she was terrified of dogs he just shrugged his shoulders. He held up the picnic basket, "Alright then, who's ready to picnic?"

Jason rolled his eyes and walked forward and scooped Shi up off of the ground, "Let's get this over with." He said as he started walking towards the spot Dick had said he wanted to set up the picnic area with Shi on his hip. The sooner he got there, the sooner they could be done with this stupid shit.


End file.
